I’m not a fan of historical fiction that doesn’t keep to a linear path. Yet, when we reach a time when Mary is fifteen and betrothed to William of Orange, the next chapter jumps back 27 years to William’s birth.

After following events set during the times of Charles II’s reign, with the main characters being Charles, his brother James, and James’s daughters Mary and Anne. Every “had” in the above quote could’ve been cut or replaced.Ī similar thing happens around one-third of the way into the story. It’s also a filler word, as the narrative is in the past tense. That’s the problem with using the past perfect “had” – it reports on the scene as opposed to taking the reader into the action as it unfolds.

The above *reports* on what happens, rather than *dramatizing* the events. So distressed had she been that her attendants had feared for her life and in her despair she had begged the Bishop of Winchester to come to her, and before him and the Duchess of Ormonde she had taken a solemn vow swearing that Berkeley had never been her lover and that the father of her child was James, Duke of York.” “How she had hated the lying Berkeley! He had desired her and because she had refused his attentions, this was his revenge. The overuse of “had” (past perfect) in the opening chapter makes it a passive start: It uses backstory early on, which would’ve been better filtered in later through dialogue to make it more active, or cut out altogether, as it isn’t essential. Sadly, it’s one of those novels that’s so dry it makes you thirsty. But can she follow her calling to rule Britain without losing the love of her father?Ĭaptivating in its historical detail, lush and sweeping in its scope, and unforgettable in its dramatic depiction of relationships between monarchs and families, The Three Crowns is the singular story of the only joint sovereigns in British history.“The Three Crowns” covers a period of England’s history that I’m not too familiar with, so I looked forward to this one.

Raised under the Protestant guardianship of her uncle King Charles, James's daughter Mary finds herself at fifteen facing a marriage to the Dutch and Protestant William of Orange, long prophesied to be destined for the throne. But James's devout Catholicism, and desire to return Britain to the rule of Rome, does not sit well with his subjects and his time as king is sure to be short. Because of this, his brother, James, Duke of York, is heir-presumptive to the thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland-the three crowns of Britain. In post-Restoration England, King Charles II has fathered numerous bastards, but not a single legitimate heir. When an empire is at stake, one woman stands between the past and the future

The Three Crowns by Jean Plaidy